‘Challenge Camp’ trains teens to survive

PALMER — A child with severe blood loss from his gruesome arm gash lets out a blood-curdling scream

“Adam, Adam. He’s hurt. He’s screaming,” says one wilderness emergency medical technician to another.

“I know. That means his lungs are still working good,” comes the reply.

For three days last week, the North American Outdoor Institute trained youth at the institute’s Youth Wilderness Safety Challenge Camp, culminating with an exercise at Mat-Su College on Saturday, testing wilderness emergency medical technicians on how to respond to a simulated plane crash.

Throughout the week, youth ages 10 to 16 and adult leaders were taught and tested on survival skills and medical training to prepare them for emergencies in Alaska’s wilderness. Participants were taught about harmful and harmless plants, safe fire methods, shelter building and how to properly prepare for a trip.

“If they’re prepared and they get lost, they’re going to survive a lot longer than if they’re not prepared and they don’t know where they are,” said Debra McGhan, NAOI president.

The youths also were taught to use an old-fashioned map and compass for navigation, a skill becoming extinct as GPS technology becomes ubiquitous.

“Technology will fail you. You need at least basic skills,” McGhan said.

These skills are most likely to be used in simple situations. When kids go camping with their families or day tripping in Hatcher Pass, basic navigation and wilderness decision-making skills will come in handy. They may only keep you from getting wet in some instances, but can save your life in others.

McGhan said that most students who enrolled in the program had no prior wilderness preparedness experience. That surprised her, she said because all Alaskans need basic outdoors survival skills.

“Make a trip plan and make sure someone else you trust has it. You need the right gear, like plenty of clothing, food and water. Most of all you need an open mind to anything that can happen out there,” said Sierra Plumb, 13.

The teen wilderness challenge prepared some of the same students to survive a plane crash who learned in June how to prepare for a zombie apocalypse. NAOI also will host an emergency preparedness fair open to the public on Sept. 15 at Mat-Su College.

Wilderness EMTs were directing traffic of the wounded, arranging for shelter and fire and assessing those immobilized. Some were members of Mat-Su Search and Rescue. Vital signs of the wounded were checked and re-checked, determining who they could help immediately.

“We’re finding that mostly they help those with the most gruesome injuries. They need to learn to use all their resources,” said McGhan of the Wilderness EMTs.

Kaitlyn Eggleton, 16, was one of the delirious after severe head trauma from the crash. She wandered around the site asking, “Where are we? I want to go home. What is going on?”

Eggleton came to and expressed her gratitude for the training.

“I haven’t had many camping experiences, but I’m glad I know what to do now. I learned cold-water survival and the importance of a shelter. I didn’t know how serious it was before, but now that I’ve had the experience I want to learn more.”

Contact intern Tim Rockey at 352-2252 or tim.rockey@gmail.com. Follow @trockeynews on Twitter.